As a premise i will call "God" the Judeo-christian God that most Christians believe in. I will also take the approach of God as what some Christians (and by that i mean fundies) i encountered use, which is that Creation is true, and Jesus was his Son.
Any time you talk to a theist about God, they will systematically say the same thing: God has higher means than us, and we cannot understand his nature. But the thing is that it is God himself who said that he had higher means. So why do they believe in it ? What evidence do they have that suggests God, if he exists, has higher means than humans ?
Now my question is: how do they know it is true ? If i told someone i was the greatest genius that ever was, they would consider my nature, my actions, and then decide if my claims were true.
Points in favor of God being superior are that he has supernatural powers, that he can perform miracles. These are valid points, if you accept the existence of supernatural phenomenons, as to God having more than human attributes.
However in the Bible itself, there is evidence suggesting that God, in fact, does not have higher ways than us, and may well be either a malevolent being, or a human-like being.
-He is always said to be all-loving and forgiving. This would mean that he feels at least some human emotions.
-He created man "in his image and likeness". If "image" means appearance, then, to me, "likeness" means the intelligence and emotions that men have, like anger, jealousy, but also kindness and compassion.
-He regretted making man, so he created the Flood. This means that he can feel regret (a "bad" emotion) and can make mistakes (making him fallible)
-The 10 Commandments start by statements that he is to be followed at all times. He is clearly a jealous God.
-The Bible says that he does not simply say "believe in me and you will be saved", he says "if you do not believe in me, you will burn in Hell". This means he is a cruel God, with unjust sentences.
-He is capable of lying: he told Adam and Eve that they would die should they eat the forbidden fruit. Although this has been said by theists that they mean a "spiritual death", he still did not tell them the truth about what would happen if they ate the fruit. He also lied to Abraham when he told him he had to sacrifice his son to him. Even though he did not mean it, it does show that he is capable of lying, a quality shared with humans.
-If he is all-loving, would he not do anything do prevent his beloved children from going to Hell ? The only response is that he is testing us, and has a higher plan, which brings this following question:
-If he knows everything, why would he need to test us ? Should he not know what will happen ? And if he does, and knows the person will be sent to Hell, he is not all-loving.
-His "creation" is not perfect. for example, our eyes fail many of us, forcing us to wear glasses, or even be blind. Some of us are born with genetic deficiencies, some die seconds after they are born. Species of animals and plants disappear every year without any intervention from man, meaning that not only man, but all of life, is not perfect.
As a conclusion, i can say that if the God of the Bible is real (which i highly doubt), believing he is all-loving and cannot be comprehended is something that only relies on His own words, which are shown to sometimes be lies. As such, if he exists, he is no better morally than any of us.
Any time you talk to a theist about God, they will systematically say the same thing: God has higher means than us, and we cannot understand his nature. But the thing is that it is God himself who said that he had higher means. So why do they believe in it ? What evidence do they have that suggests God, if he exists, has higher means than humans ?
Now my question is: how do they know it is true ? If i told someone i was the greatest genius that ever was, they would consider my nature, my actions, and then decide if my claims were true.
Points in favor of God being superior are that he has supernatural powers, that he can perform miracles. These are valid points, if you accept the existence of supernatural phenomenons, as to God having more than human attributes.
However in the Bible itself, there is evidence suggesting that God, in fact, does not have higher ways than us, and may well be either a malevolent being, or a human-like being.
-He is always said to be all-loving and forgiving. This would mean that he feels at least some human emotions.
-He created man "in his image and likeness". If "image" means appearance, then, to me, "likeness" means the intelligence and emotions that men have, like anger, jealousy, but also kindness and compassion.
-He regretted making man, so he created the Flood. This means that he can feel regret (a "bad" emotion) and can make mistakes (making him fallible)
-The 10 Commandments start by statements that he is to be followed at all times. He is clearly a jealous God.
-The Bible says that he does not simply say "believe in me and you will be saved", he says "if you do not believe in me, you will burn in Hell". This means he is a cruel God, with unjust sentences.
-He is capable of lying: he told Adam and Eve that they would die should they eat the forbidden fruit. Although this has been said by theists that they mean a "spiritual death", he still did not tell them the truth about what would happen if they ate the fruit. He also lied to Abraham when he told him he had to sacrifice his son to him. Even though he did not mean it, it does show that he is capable of lying, a quality shared with humans.
-If he is all-loving, would he not do anything do prevent his beloved children from going to Hell ? The only response is that he is testing us, and has a higher plan, which brings this following question:
-If he knows everything, why would he need to test us ? Should he not know what will happen ? And if he does, and knows the person will be sent to Hell, he is not all-loving.
-His "creation" is not perfect. for example, our eyes fail many of us, forcing us to wear glasses, or even be blind. Some of us are born with genetic deficiencies, some die seconds after they are born. Species of animals and plants disappear every year without any intervention from man, meaning that not only man, but all of life, is not perfect.
As a conclusion, i can say that if the God of the Bible is real (which i highly doubt), believing he is all-loving and cannot be comprehended is something that only relies on His own words, which are shown to sometimes be lies. As such, if he exists, he is no better morally than any of us.
